By Crime Historian Laura James, Esquire (c) 2005-14 WELCOME to my study of historic true crime, a literary blog where the chairs rest at the intersection of history, journalism, law, and murder, and the shelves are filled with the finest true crime literature. STEAL FROM THIS LIBRARY AND IT'S PISTOLS AT DAWN.

Five lucky CLEWS readers had their names drawn from a hat to win a free hardcover copy of A Cold-Blooded Business: Adultery, Murder, and a Killer's Path from the Bible Belt to the Boardroom by Marek Fuchs. The publisher, Skyhorse Publishing, was kind enough to share them with you -- readers who appreciate very well written true crime stories.

If you see your name below, your book will be mailed Media Mail (give it 4-10 days).

The winners (who, to enter, had to name their favorite true crime book ever) are:

Tom, St. Louis: "Some tough competition, but my number one would have to be Blood and Money, by Thomas Thompson. Not just the perfect title, but a combination of soap opera and Greek tragedy that, classicly, no one would dare invent. Two men with nothing in common but the woman they both loved, and her mysterious death. I know people who have literally stayed up all night reading this."

Ann, Lansing, Mich.: "Favorite ever true crime book is Darker than Night: The True Story of a Brutal Double Homicide and an 18-Year Long Quest for Justice because I live in Michigan and was familiar with the missing hunters and always wondered what had happened to them."

Carrie, Federal Way, WA: "I think my favorite True Crime book is Helter Skelter because of the nature of the attacks and the weirdness of the characters that committed the crimes. The fact the Bugliosi was privy to most of the info on the Manson Gang makes it a more believable, factual account. The deviance of behavior in these people makes for truly frightening reading. It's kind of unputdownable, riveting from beginning to end."

Jason (Headsman of Executed Today), Bloomington, Ind.: "I have to go with the classic Newgate Calendar, which is still a remarkably current look at both human folly and at the authorial voice that judges it. Plus, when writing about a different execution every single day, there's no better go-to source outside of the Third Reich!"

Courtney, Surrey, BC: "My favorite True Crime book... well, I have many including all the books done by Barry Scheck or involving his work. But my absolute favorite, although not entirely fitting for true crime genre in my opinion, is You Got Nothing Coming by the late Jimmy Lerner because it's the book that got me into the genre, helped me understand what was happening to my good friend in prison, and also because when I wrote to the author, he wrote back and I did his web site, and we became good friends. My friend who is incarcerated inspired my blog first and foremost, but a very close secondary inspiration was Jimmy Lerner and his amazingly entertaining and informative book.

"An interesting sidenote: This book actually inspired and was plagiarized by the Fox show Prison Break. If you read the book and then watch the first few episodes, you'll see the similarities. Jimmy was never notified of this, and was awarded a rather large settlement when it was discovered. Fox had purchased the rights to make a motion picture film based on the book, but not a television show loosely based on it."

Thanks to everyone who entered and watch this space for more book giveaways!

I'll mail these books next week, via Media Mail, to five CLEWS readers. The free book contest is open to anyone from any country. I'll draw the names of five winners from all emails received by Monday, October 26, 2009, at 5 p.m. EST.

To enter, send me an email at Laura4991 (at) prodigy (dot) net with your (a) name and address, (b) permission to use your name or a request to withhold your name, and (c) name your favorite-ever true crime book with a blurb on what made it so memorable.

If you have entered a book giveaway before and didn't win, you can submit your same answer. IF you have won a book on CLEWS before but did not receive your book, it's because a certain publicist for a certain publisher apparently failed to keep her commitment - please let me know if this applies to you!

So five CLEWS readers have won a free copy of The Suspicions of Mr Whicher in the first CLEWS book giveaway, to be mailed to them by the publisher.

To enter the drawing, each was asked to submit the name of their favorite-ever true crime title. I put all the names in a hat and drew five. The winners, and their answers, are below. If you see your name here, your address has been sent to the publisher and you should get your book in the mail in due course. If you don't see your name, I'll keep your entry for the next book giveaway!

And the winning entries are....

W.H. (anonymous): "My favorites include In Cold Blood, Serpentine, and Blood Will Tell. Right now, The Devil in the White City is my favorite because I now live in Hyde Park, Chicago; and when I am not obsessed about if Obama is planning on disrupting my weekend with the extra security, I tour White City and Leopold and Loeb sites."

Candi Smith: "My vote is for Lizzie Borden, Arnold R. Brown, 1992, Dell. Although reviewers say 'the author massaged' Lizzie's testimony, the fact of her axe-wielding, mentally retarded half-brother just can't be swept under the rug that easily. Having read most everything out there about Lizzie, this is the only explanation that satisfies my reason, my logic and my gut."

Graham Trott: "The Killing Of Julia Wallace by Jonathan Goodman. This ground-breaking investigation by the British master is a consummate exposition of the ultimate (spousal?) murder and crime conundrum."

Venice Miller: " Of the hundreds of true crime books I have ever read, my favorite is Predator by Jack Olsen. This book reads like a novel, but is even better because it's true, as catastrophic a story as it is. The way Jack Olsen wrote it makes me feel like I know the characters in the book on a personal basis. He so engrossed me with the story of this rapist's life that I feel I at least have an inkling of why he might have committed his crimes. I was so enthralled by the story, I didn't want it to end."

Dave Elkin: "It was tough but Fatal Vision comes in second but I still give the nod to Helter Skelter. I picked the latter due to the fact that the book was very well researched and brought to you the horror of the act, and though Manson was certainly the man in charge, he never actually killed anybody. He still should have gotten the chair, but good old CA decided that the death penalty was cruel and unusual. I have also read a number of Ripper books, but one does not stand out in my mind. Helter Skelter won a 1975 Edgar Award for Best Fact Crime book, which is a strong comment as well."

The Suspicions of Mr Whicher has been quite the literary phenomenon both in the UK and the US. Kate Summerscale's examination of the 1830 Kent mystery has been shortlisted for numerous awards, won the Samuel Johnson Award (a big deal in the UK), and is a favorite to win the Agatha and Edgar awards in the US, which are about to be announced.

The New York Times bestseller just came out in paperback. Now the publisher, Bloomsbury, is kindly offering five free copies of the book to CLEWS readers.

The success of the subject matter has been a great surprise to me, and to see an historical murder case resurrected and an author bestowed with so much praise has been a breath of fresh air. (No doubt the publisher has been pleasantly surprised as well!) If you haven't had a chance to see what all the buzz is about, you can put your name in the drawing for a free copy.

All you have to do to enter the contest is send an email to Laura4991@prodigy.net containing the following:

1) The name of the best true crime book you have ever read with, oh, a paragraph explaining why it was so great;

2) Whether or not you give me permission to publish your answer on CLEWS;

3) Your name and mailing address.

On Thursday, May 7, 2009,at 6 a.m. Eastern,I'll put all the names in a hat and draw five winners. You'll receive your free book in the mail directly from the publisher. (Your address will be kept strictly private (and your name, too, if you prefer), and I won't do anything else with your address, but I might run all the collected submissions sometime in the future.)

So what is the best book you've ever read in the true crime genre? Answer the question and you'll get a free book that might make it onto your list of all-time favorites.

NewspaperArchiveMy most very favorite site on the internet. Millions of digitized, text-searchable newspapers from across the U.S. and the world. If my computer somehow froze up and I had access to only one website, this would be it.

Paper of Record Another pay-to-play website that features searchable historic newspapers. Canada is particularly well represented in its collection.